Despite the missed flight and night sleeping on the airport floor in Quito, Greg and I arrived in Lima with high spirits and a surprising amount of energy. I guess missing a flight every once helps to make all the smaller, more common, things seem that much less stressful. The barrage of taxi drivers bargaining for rides directly outside customs left us in a fancy black towncar cruising to a hostel we actually booked in advance, in the miraflores district. Greg had been in Lima one night a few years ago and knew the area.

One surprise for me about the city was the surrounding environment. Central and northern peru is arid desert, Arizona has more plant life! Lima is known for the ancient ruins scattered throughout the city, and also for its amazing gastronomy

. Unfortunately we don't have the budget to fully appreciate the latter. The city has a west coast atmosphere: board shorts, sandals, longboards, and surf. I fit right in.

After settling our things we spent the first afternoon walking around central Lima. This colonial era old town is home to crowded streets of brightly colored buildings. We walked trough the main plazas and saw the governors palace and cathedral. Very near to here (although we didnt make it) there are indian ruins hundreds of years old. There are bookshops, clothing stores, and guys exchanging currency everywhere. I bought my Spanish book to start stumbling my way through during my free time.

Miraflores, where our hostel was, is a more upscale area with a San Diego surfer atmosphere. It was really nice to experience the west coast vibe again. The hostel rented longboards so we spent day two riding up and down the coast. There was a great bike path right along the beach, and another along the cliff just inland making it the perfect circuit

. For 5 hours we made stops to eat, work out, or watch the surfers as we made our way through the bohemian district of barranco and fishing centered chorrillos. After the ride I felt very familiar with the city, I missed the freedom and convenience of long board touring.

Lima is the center for all action sports and adventures around Peru. Our hostel had trips for everything from paragliding the city to hiking the Inca trail. We had heard Peru was great for surfing so we opted for a small surf town 9 hours away by bus.